Technical Notes About the Altis Site
If any part of this site does not appear to function as expected, please send a message right away. Some factors to consider are noted here.
Browsers
We no longer regularly test this web site with numerous browser and operating system variations. We assume that if it works with the current version of Internet Explorer, it should be fine. (A quick check is also done using Firefox, Netscape, and Opera which generally exposes any major issues.) The site should look like this:
Every effort is made to validate this site as compliant with XHTML 1.0 (Transitional). If any part of this site appears incompatible with your browser or doesn't seem to look right, please send a message with an explanation of the problem and the URL of the offending page. The style sheets for the site include some CSS 3 tags, which not all browsers support yet, but they affect only minor, cosmetic, and easily-overlooked details.
Colors
Some browsers allow you to configure the default font and background colors. If the default colors on this site do not appear as black text on a white background, check your browser preferences to make sure that you have not selected an option such as "Always use my colors, overriding page document."
Graphics
Graphics on this site are stored in either GIF or JPEG format. Practically all current browsers support these common formats. We have made an effort to keep the size of graphics low so that pages display as quickly as possible. If you notice any unusual delays, or something does not appear to display properly, please send a message.
Links
Links from this site to others are verified regularly. Broken links are corrected as soon as they are identified. Occasionally, a site will be temporarily unavailable, so the link will be left in place until it is back on line. Links that appear to be dead are removed. If any link on this site no longer functions or appears to be incorrect, please send a message.
Technology
This site uses reCAPTCHA challenges to reduce intrusion by automated mailers. A "CAPTCHA" (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) creates a barrier to automated programs by presenting a task that only a human can (currently) perform. This offers the benefit of making contact more secure as well as helping with the process of digitizing and indexing books. (Read more . . . .)
If this site appears somewhat old-fashioned by web standards, we feel that our work has been successful. (The underlying design uses the latest tools and standards and is laid out using CSS.) We have no particular affection for Flash plug-ins or elaborate graphical layouts that burn up bandwidth and communicate little. Altis is driven more by results than novelty. If that sounds like vacuum-tube thinking, good. Tubes just sound better anyway.